15 October 2012

An
interview. My goal is to get a deeper look inside the lives of
entrepreneurs whom I admire for who they are and for the great work they
are delivering.
With every interview you read, bear in mind that it
is a little time-capsule: opinions frozen in time. Our thinking and
acting changes with time. Luckily!

I discovered Healthy Homes
on the internet. The philosophy and the aesthetics of this ecological
interior design company immediately caught my eye. I got curious about
the person behind such visual poetry, and was very happy when Froukje
agreed to get interviewed.

Enjoy!

1. Tell us about yourself and about your business

I'm
Froukje, mother of Lieke 9 and Rosa 4. We live in Spaarndam
(Netherlands), on a canal. It's like living on the countryside, close to
the sea and on the other side of the dike you have Amsterdam and
Haarlem.
Even a lot of Dutch people don't know what a great place to
live our village is. For me it's a safehaven - literally and
figuratively.

I'm an independent interior designer, with ecological solutions as my specialism. On my website www.healthyhomes.nl
you can find an extensive description about my work (in Dutch). I'm
also discovering more about the ecological solutions as I go on with my
work.

I have some criteria for choosing the people and materials
to work with: the materials should be natural and organic, preferrably
of ecological and sustainable produce. I prefer to know the manufacturer
personally, and mostly I work with small-scale manufacturers or Dutch
designers. I want to get to the essence of every project. Sometimes I
have to take shortcuts - for example when the material I finally choose
for has minimal natural origins. In that case I press on the supplier to
look for local and sustainable materials in the future.
Recycling is
OK upto a certain point...when scrap wood has been used up, one must
not go and manufacture it. Upcycling plastic bottles for a chandelier is
fun and inventive, but it is not the solution in the long run.

My
first choice goes for local professional workshops for artisan-made
furniture, curtains, rugs and art. When we want to re-use something old,
we get it repaired and polished-up for it's new function. In this way
the local artisans have work, and the heritage of traditional artisanal
professions gets a longer life.

A beautiful interior shouldn't
just be pretty - there is of course also a statement behind it. An
interior is not something that's apart from how you live your life, and
that's also why interior design is different with every customer.
Someone
wants to make an envionmental statement, whilst another customer
chooses an interior that is absolutely free from toxic gasses (from
paint, plywood etc.). Sometimes there is a more personal reason for
tweaking the interior, to give it more chi, for instance.

I
think I'm successful because I'm a good stylist, but also because I
understand my customers. I can feel what they want and what fits them,
without pushing them into the direction of my own style. I never go and
get a quick interior fix from the popular megastores. It is a peaceful
process, also because people need to get used to the changes, and
because my choises fall outside the mass-production solutions people
often are used to. I call it slow-design... You need to believe in it,
that is a must if you want to work with me...because this way of working
is quite unusual in my sector.
What I just described is also the
reason why I find my work so exciting and what makes it different every
time. At the moment there is a lot going on in ecological interior
design, and I think it will be a matter of time that I will no longer be
one of the few doing this work, but there will be new colleagues, as
well.

2. How did you end up doing the work you're doing now?

Haha...where
shall I start? Perhaps the blueprint was made when I was born in
Geleen, next to DSM (nowadays a life-sciences and bio-sciences company).
A lot has happened before I landed where I am now. As a child I was
always drawing couches with different patterns. I spent a lot of time in
nature, which was one of my favorite places to be - I felt happy and
safe.
The education I had (Fashion Academy Montaigne in Amsterdam and
Esmond in Paris) has given me the opportunity to play with form,
colours and materials. I studied some economics, which made me realize I
can better understand it in practice than in theory. Also, I have my
own vision on economics, it seems.

I've lived a couple of years
in France and Belgium. I had various interior design projects in those
countries with the partner I was living with at that time. We were
living extremely isolated and so incredibly in the nature, that it
changed my life. That's what nature and silence can do with you...
Now
I can't imagine living without a horizon and greenery around me
anymore. Unseparably with that change came healthy food - it is so
vitally important, and I've discovered a lot in that area. With this new
knowledge my ambitions and longings changed.

So...at one point
our ways separated, and I came back to the Netherlands with my two
daughters, at that time 8 months and 5 years old. I had to reinvent
myself at all fronts. The situation made me choose how I wanted to live
my life, also taking the children into account. I have cooked for large
groups, and had a part time job on the side, but working for a boss
proved impossible with the working times and the kids. Had I stayed in
my job, I wouldn't have seen my children much. It wasn't worth it for
me.
I picked up my occupation as a stylist again, and started
interior designing for houses that were put into the market for the
sale. But I was missing something - it wasn't quite what I wanted, at
least not this way.

The breakthrough came with an invitation to
the Trend Union in Paris in 2010, with Lidewij Edelkoort. My eyes fell
upon a French hemp textile brand, Couleur Chanvre - it is so pure and
beautiful... in the train on the way back home I knew it for sure:
ecological interiors! I was determined that this would be the way to go
for me.

My personal story (relationship&health) and my study
and working experience were essential in order to get to where I am now.
But this is not the end station! There are still a lot of areas where
more life may flow in. But you see; good things come out of even
limiting situations, you just need to follow your heart.

3. What is your favourite tool and material?

My
3m Stanley Powerlock, a measuring tape...I carry them with me always.
My material choice changes from moment to moment...there's so much to
choose from! It's the combination of materials that intrigues
me...structures and colours. I always want to touch everything...there
are also so many materials that have been forgotten, or that we haven't
discovered yet.

4. What have you learned from the past?

Personally:
I hope that the past has learned something from me...I have a deep
anchored trust in myself (feeling/intuition), that is the first thing
that comes up. It's sometimes difficult because you get influenced by
others with their advice and their worries and fears. But as you grow
stronger, your surroundings change with you, and new possibilities and
friendships are born. I notice that I have a positive influence on
others, and that I inspire them through my work and through my way of
life.

Never force things, that is counterproductive... what
doesn't come easy now, will come later - or not, but then something else
will arise. It's very important to stay flexible, time and patience are
one and the same thing.

I believe that everything you want or
envision is given to you. Everyone has the luxury to choose how they
want to go on about their lives. In this way you find out what you
really want and what is good for you and suits you. Questions get
answered, if you like it or not. Eat it!

There's no big without
small, everything and everyone is equally important for the whole. If
everyone would make an ecological contribution with their work, with the
goal of having a more beautiful world, we'd be out of the
economical&ecological crisis in no time.

Business: A good businessplan is all you need. You don't need a loan.

5. What are you grateful for in this moment?

The people I'm having a relationship with (in private life & in work) to make it all better.

6. Are
you preparing something at the moment that will soon get out there in
the world - something you already want to share with us?

Aquamarijn: At the moment I'm developing, together with Henriette from Aquamarijn a natural paint and a colourchart.
They
are a Dutch paint manufacturer, making paints on flax oil. In my
opinion it is a step into the future with the knowledge of the distant
past...this paint will adhere to its base material in an inherently
intellectual way.

The eco-lounge couch: We're working on a modern
lounge couch that's being made from natural and ecological materials
only. As far as I know it it's the "greenest" couch in the world.
Bastiaan is the maker, and had the guts to go for it.

scarForlove:
Next to my "house"work...I'm working together with Meli, a great talent
in knitting and crocheting, to make shawls with eco-cotton. We're
letting it grow without too much pressure and we'll see where it goes. I
like it that way. A shawl with a story.
The material is incredibly
soft. A lot of attention and time goes into making the shawls, that's
what makes them so attractive...they're often given as presents between
friends, and I find it such a beautiful gesture.
For the winter we're
making outdoors-ponchos from wool, and the ultimate scarf for men is in
the making. Super soft, warm, tough and, above all, practical. We're
working slowly and in a very personal manner and are not very profitable
at the moment... The material is very precious, Meli is more expensive
than outsourcing abroad and we don't make collections in advance. We're
going against how things usually are done in the fashion world here, but
we'll see where it takes us and slowly does it.
(You can find scarForlove via Twitter by following Healthyhomes. There's a weblog in the making. You can also just email Froukje.)

7. Who is your hero, source of inspiration or idol?

My hero...is someone I still need to meet...I do have two little heroes.

My
inspiration is nature. Nothing is as inplacable and healing at the same
time, you can find happiness only there. The rest is playing around and
if we're playing fair we may also use some input from nature for extra
happiness or added value. Luxury, joy and pleasure. I think that there's
enough for everyone. Some people just have taken too much for
themselves.

8. Do you have other things you're passionate about, next to your work?

They
change. Cooking is one that stays, and I can do it every day. Music and
dancing are like oxygen for me. I love walking along the seashore with
my children and dog. I'd like to travel more, but there will be a time
for that too.
I'd like to be more creative and do handicrafts, at
this moment I'm sitting a lot behind the laptop and being on the road
for meetings. I also see a beautiful workshop for Healthy Homes in the
future, where I can design the Healthy Homes collection.

This interview was originally published on my website on 15th October 2012.